Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki – A Wellspring of Abundance

This case study was curated to spark thinking about local structures and approaches that can enable communities to improve their own wellbeing. It’s part of a wider Think Piece, Powering Up Communities to Deliver Local Wellbeing 2024, commissioned by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

JOURNEY TO DATE

Having sought guidance from local kaumatua, the Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki (TPOoŌ) logo depicts the many divergent springs that run from the source of the Ōtaki River. Like the logo, TPOoŌ embodies the wider Ōtaki community, connected through their locality and meeting both needs and community aspirations. They are a Kaupapa Māori organisation, not an iwi or hapū provider.

Originally funded as the Ōtaki Integrated Family Health Centre when it started in 2012, TPOoŌ began its journey slowly, navigating its way with one part time project manager that sought to build relationships in health service provision across local providers. Funds initially were held and managed by the Central PHO, which suited the small group finding their way. In 2021 after grappling with their place in the community, and after considering the need and relevance, the TPOoŌ board decided that yes, they have a place and took the leap, invested in their future, and become a legal Charitable Trust.

At that time, they had no physical location to base themselves and were a third party in a significant Regional Development (He Poutama Rangatahi) funding contract, with minimal staffing. Despite this, the board saw this as an opportunity to become independent and seek further funding to start building their mission, which at that time was to raise the health and wellbeing of the Ōtaki community. Ōtaki Integrated Family Health Centre CEO and Chairperson for TPOoŌ, Kiwa Raureti says this change of circumstance gave them the confidence to back themselves and pointed out the nature in which Ōtaki organisations do things a bit differently through rangatiratanga – a sense of self determination.

As a community-led resource, Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki sees its role and function to ensure this occurs across Ōtaki and aim to do this by:

• Facilitating inclusive community leadership and direction
• Communicating with and being accountable to stakeholders
• Supporting aspirational wellbeing initiatives across Ōtaki
• Advocating for Ōtaki, to grow and develop its capacity towards self-determined autonomy.

Understanding what the community wanted and thought, saw some brave initial engagements where the TPOoŌ Board and Ōtaki Medical Centre owner encouraged people to come along and have their say in public forums regarding health services, and current access to medical care. While parts of the community were initially angry and frustrated at the state of current services, eventually the public perception changed as they began to empathise with the realities of the situation health service providers were in and they understood the difficulty in finding doctors to service the town, a common theme in the lower North Island at the time. This strengthened the vision for the organisation and saw them focus on health provision.

TPOoŌ had an original goal to purchase half the medical centre and find ways to ensure people had access to services. As a result of their holistic Covid 19 response, they now have a stand-alone clinic offering basic services to whānau including wellbeing checks and immunisations and a more recent addition of a mobile health unit to offer direct services to whānau in neighbourhoods where they live. It is also taken to community events. This has been a game changer for a small town, in particular for those who are not able to get appointments or are unable to travel.

Services currently include:

• Hauora clinic – clinical health services
• Te Hunga Rangatahi – youth employment programme
• Community Connector – supporting whānau navigating challenging times.
• Ka ako Ka ora – lunches in schools programme
• Healthy homes project – ensuring homes are healthy for all.

ORGANISATIONAL MODEL

Identifying that the TPOoŌ project manager needed additional support and authority, a change process was instigated which reflected the growing nature of the organisation and desire from the board to move into a governance role. Prior to this they were assisting with management functions due to the stretched staffing, absence of sound infrastructure and an increase in demand for services.

The rapid upscale in funding through the Covid health response put a different strain on the organisation. It increased human resources needed, along with compliance requirements and demands for a physical space for TPOoŌ, as well as the crucial role of ensuing their community was looked after. The lack of office space had challenges and at one point the organisation was spread across four different locations.

Reviewing the TPOoŌ strategic plan post Covid 19 gave the board time to reassess lessons learnt, understand what the priorities were and finally pause from frantic Covid related activities. While community governance boards are an essential legal requirement, and have a large amount of goodwill, they cannot do it all. Time was taken to look at realistic appraisals of future opportunities and expansion and seeing if the governance documents were going to have longevity for what was needed. Shoulder tapping a general manager to lead the organisation through its next phase and further solidifying its role in the community has seen the organisation grow and build on relationships nurtured during Covid. Updated governance policies have made it clear the only one involved across both operational and governance spaces is the Chair, who meets with the general manager regularly, and reminds the governance team of their role and place.

Kiwa notes the substantial number of community organisations across the country, and how the process of setting up a legal structure, policies and people resources is time consuming and often puts groups in competition for funds. In a small town, collaborative ways of doing things brings greater impact and less stress on people’s time as the shared social space is small. An example is a newly formed group Te Tahuaora o Aumenga, who are aiming to work with groups of individuals, sports teams, other groups, teachers, and rangatahi in the mental wellbeing and capacity building space. They do not have funding for that, most of the work is voluntary but they now come under the umbrella of TPOoŌ. It is not unusual for emerging groups to approach TPOoŌ to be fund holder or backbone to assist with infrastructure support, basic administration and venue sharing. It is a better approach than going it alone to set up a whole new legal entity says Kiwa.

Like the many wellsprings that diverge from the source of the Ōtaki River, TPOoŌ know that it is the united strength and resilience found within the Ōtaki community that will bring positive change and propel them into the future.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki are a kaupapa based Māori organisation, not an iwi or hapū mandated one. There is a distinct difference. Nga hapū o Ōtaki serve the whānau of the five hapū of Ōtaki and the three marae in the rohe of Ōtaki, which consist of:

• Ngāti Maiotaki
• Ngāti Pare
• Ngāti Koroki
• Ngāti Huia
• Ngāti Kapumanawawhiti
• Te pou o Tainui
• Raukawa Marae
• Katihiku Marae

Regular meetings with the Chairperson of the hapū are essential to keep the lines of communication open says Kiwa, and TPOoŌ wants to be of service to the hapū, an added value not a burden.

Although the majority of the Board members have whakapapa (kinship ties) connections to the hapū, there is a formal hapū rep, nominated by the hapū on the board and this ensures a hapū voice is present, as well as transparent communications back to the hapū. TPOoŌ always saw themselves as a place holder, holding the space until, and if, the hapū were ready to step in and take things over.

Mandated by the hapū to manage and lead the local Covid-19 response, hapū representatives were invited to be part of panels when interviewing key TPOoŌ staff, so they had some visibility, ownership of the roles, and some input into the people being hired. As the health sector locality conversations start to develop further down the track, collaboration and communication will grow with individual hapū to determine individual hapū needs, rather than with TPOoŌ.

Another key relationship is the Ōtaki networking group which has been running informally for over 30 years and provides an effective way for interested community groups to quickly network, collaborate, and keep informed about Ōtaki issues – as well as share good stories that celebrate local success. Meeting monthly, the networking group also provides a sounding board for new providers to the area, offering direction, challenging duplications, access to key people and is an integral way to have visibility over various roles and responsibilities.

Often goals change and priorities diminish, seeking community feedback and understanding identifies that there are lots of different solutions to the same problem. Finding groups who share a common problem, coordinating efforts and bringing different funding streams together to address the issue, helps achieve far greater impact than individual groups working alone.

FUNDING AND SUPPORT

Initial funding was slow, and project based, with the organisation in a relationship building phase rather than leading big projects. It took some time to work out best ways to develop solid infrastructure and be in the right place to take on personnel to enable to direct delivery to whānau. Multiple funders were involved supporting diverse community needs. Funders also started to challenge their own way of thinking and began to work together; a good example was Department of Internal Affairs who could not fully fund an essential service, who collaborated with Wellington Community Trust to co-fund alongside them. Rather than TPOoŌ having to extend resources to find extra funding or reduce services to partly fund a project, the funder decided to take a creative approach and collaborate which ensured the service could be fully funded.

TPOoŌ would like to see more of this funder behaviour as it allows groups to get on with the business of doing. Where once TPOoŌ was once involved but not leading, they are now fund holders determining the direction of the services and shaping them to best fit the needs of the Ōtaki community bringing on essential expertise as and when needed. Relationships formed, nurtured, and strengthened during Covid have paid off with TPOoŌ focusing its efforts on building and mobilising key outside resources to achieve goals for the community.

ENABLERS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND GROWTH

From the perspective of TPOoŌ, wellbeing is not only founded upon presenting individual health factors, but also includes an oranga or a holistic wellbeing approach. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Te Whānau, family-centred wellbeing and self-management
• Te Kainga, improved living environments and capacity
• Te Hāpori, knowledge and access to appropriate community resources
• Te Taiao, participation in and advocacy for wider environmental impacts.

While these are broad, it means largely that whānau can determine what this looks like for them, without being boxed into western understandings. TPOoŌ are committed to looking after the mauri ora or total wellbeing which makes all the difference and is the key enabler when talking with whānau.

CHALLENGES:

• Relationships that enable TPOoŌ to carry on. The biggest challenge is collaboration rather than being in competition for the same funds and for the same work. This means that groups will over promise and under deliver.
• Transport for local rangatahi to get to places is key, with a desire to encourage them to venture out and seek employment or recreational activities. This is challenging when the public transport system has barriers to access.

OPPORTUNITIES:

• Being recognised by funding agencies and having a track record means TPOoŌ can present themselves as a reputable provider that delivers.
• A more recent aspiration is to have a startup Sport Kāpiti. The strength of Ōtaki typically is on the performance field. This is untapped as Kāpiti is producing athletes for the world stage at early ages – how do we invest in this?
• Further collaboration and investment are essential for small communities and the right for Māori to self-determine their own destination should see them leading this as Māori.
• Identifying good paying jobs that are needed in Ōtaki and providing pathways towards these. This will further develop the capacity of local people so they can work, live, and thrive in their hometown.

ADVICE FOR COUNCILS AND OTHERS LOOKING TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY STRUCTURES THAT SUPPORT DELIVERY OF LOCAL COMMUNITY OUTCOMES:

• Often meetings are called with urgency – get the right people in the room at the right time, not after the fact. Identify the expertise required before gathering everyone. Communities are busy and often stretched for time and resources, so decisions are more easily made when the right people are there to progress and find solutions.
• Community organisations have a wealth of on the ground knowledge, but often competing views and conflicting solutions. Organisations like TPOoŌ understand this and work with this, listening to what people (communities) are saying and then (Council and other agencies) can assist the community to get on with it.
• Often groups claiming they represent communities are not the ones the community want to represent them. There are communities within communities, TPOoŌ recognises that they only represent a part of the community, yet councils often prefer to work with one organisation who is making the biggest noise, or who council already have an easy relationship with, but may not be doing the bulk of the work. Investing in community knowledge and taking the time to find out who is on the ground is helpful in the long term and removes many frustrations for everyone along the way.
• Community organisations know how to engage with Māori, some do it respectfully and with intent. Often councils have these expectations of their community but not of themselves when wanting to consult on their urgent multiple workstreams.

The Community-led Development Trust – Our Projects, Our Way

This case study was curated to spark thinking about local structures and approaches that can enable communities to improve their own wellbeing. It’s part of a wider Think Piece, Powering Up Communities to Deliver Local Wellbeing 2024, commissioned by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council

JOURNEY TO DATE

There is an improved sense of communal spirit, which keeps driving those living at home wanting to realise their dreams and aspirations. Lack of employment prospects has been a significant challenge along the Whanganui River Road for many years and even with a resurgence of whānau returning home, having to travel into town for work is still a concern. Fortunately, the road has been upgraded and maintained, primarily though, to grow the region’s economy by increasing the tourist market.

The Community-Led Development Programme (CLDP) offered by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) in 2017 was timely and opportune. The Community Led Development Trust (TCLD Trust) as the governance authority and The Community Led Team (TCLT) as the operational arm were established for legal and independent purposes to allow capability and capacity to deliver on the ground community desired projects and programmes.

WHĀNAU, STAY INVOLVED, KEEP EVOLVING

Community-led development is about working together to create and achieve locally owned visions and goals. The TCLT journey has had its ups and downs; sometimes taking one step forward and landing two back especially at the beginning and acknowledging that change was never going to be easy.

There have been many interesting moments, from the delight of being selected for the programme, to the excitement of actually getting started, to sharing the concept amongst local people, to gaining their buy in and trust, to dealing with misunderstandings and miscommunications, to completing projects within their communities and to then celebrating the successes of collaborative actions and outcomes.

It has been a steep learning curve for all involved, understanding and undertaking duties of responsibility and service. These lessons have helped set a solid foundation to operate over the coming years.

TCLT now has its structure (governance, financial and accounting systems, policies and procedures, operational experience, employment capability, etc) in place, after an experiential time of early programme provision and successful implementation of projects such as:

• Hunt Nation Festival (Pipiriki)
• Recycling bins and bags for whānau (Pipiriki, Jerusalem, Rānana and Matahiwi)
• A purpose-built recycling trailer (Rānana)
• A bus shelter (Matahiwi)
• Security solar lamps (Matahiwi and Rānana)
• Road safety mirrors on dangerous corners (various sites)
• Zumba on the AWA (Jerusalem, Rānana and Matahiwi).

There’s no place like home and many whānau leave early in life to pursue education or work opportunities. In 2011 after many years away, Daryn and his wife Ramari came back to Whanganui equipped with a unique capability aligned to the teachings of te kauae runga (celestial knowledge).

To many who know them, they’re viewed as wairua-based people able to employ physical attributes, qualities and experience to link with whānau and deliver practical-based solutions.

Ramari’s heart and Daryn’s career experience placed them alongside family, hapū and iwi championing initiatives that promoted people and place. Roles at the marae led to service within the rūnanga and soon after Daryn was mandated as an Iwi Chair, filling the seat vacated by respected Kaumātua, Bernard Haami. He reflects that, “Uncle Barn gave his blessing with a directive, do what you’re good at boy and we’ll (Kaumātua) support you in the rest.”

In the seven years that followed, Daryn held numerous Māori governance roles learning about and studying the political iwi landscape. In parallel with this work, which was done ‘in-kind’, he designed the Aumangea Programme, an Army leadership initiative, testing resilience of mind and body beyond self-perceived limitations.

The findings also pointed toward a residential-led approach rather than a marae or hapū-led approach. This aligned perfectly to the intent and principles of the newly piloted CLDP. All activities would be decided by those living in the community. This paradigm shift would clearly require a new way of thinking and doing.

Around this time, Community Strategic Enabler (CSE) Nihi Houia, recalls Daryn visiting him and sharing his vision of wanting to assist his people along the Whanganui River Road.

TCLT deliberately stayed out of environmental and cultural issues to circumvent perceived cross-over concerns, leaving them to marae and hapū delegates to address.

The role of the CSE is to find funding and resourcing to enable agreed community projects to be successfully completed and then reported against expected outcomes.

TCLT’s approach involves forward planning guided by its strategic plan, researching and applying to project relevant funding sources and then crossing their fingers and toes that applications upon submission are successful. If they are, then TCLT tap into their network to invite like-minded groups and organisations who may wish to collaborate and contribute (not always financially) to particular project outcomes for mutual investment return by enhanced intrinsic and extrinsic impact in the community impact.

Doing business this way has enabled TCLT to grow its credibility with its stakeholders. Their ability to leverage and negotiate to get multiple community projects completed, is a critical performance factor. Underpinning this is the key understanding of relational value and multi-partnering advantage.

Operations Manager, Selina Percy became involved through Daryn meeting her and sensing her potential to add value to TCLT. Fast forward a year later and she has managed the rigorous application process to gaining Level Three Social Services Accreditation as a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) service provider.

Selina speaks of her desire to inspire people to be the best they can be through employment, providing opportunities where they live, work and play so they don’t have to leave the awa/river.

When asked what TCLT would do with a blank cheque, Daryn responded:

Daryn is keen to support marae and hapū development when they are ready.

Selina feels that there are a number of agencies and organisations looking for ways to connect and engage with communities such as those along the Whanganui River Road.

Daryn talks about needing to have the moral courage to lead, create and support change. It requires a team effort and team approach knowing that at times, a person may have to make the hard and final decision.

Alongside this is the importance of capturing the intangible and tangible outcomes of the journey. Using monitoring and assessment tools such as video stories and social media help celebrate and archive what was and is possible.

OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD FOR TCLT:

• Bringing hopes and dreams to life for community people cannot be underestimated
• Being available to support community-led development is a privilege
• To date, projects have been based on mainly community requested social development projects and programmes
• Next year, and beyond, the focus will be on wealth and economic development at home

ADVICE FOR COUNCILS AND OTHERS LOOKING TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS DELIVERING LOCAL COMMUNITY OUTCOMES:

• The purpose to connect and engage should be respectful
• Relationships and decision-making levels must be acknowledged and honoured
• Information should be communicated clearly and in a timely fashion
• Any opportunity to partner must be cooperative and mutually beneficial
• The right people and resources need to be in place for successful outcomes
• How will future projects be strategically planned for and implemented?
• How will the relationships be maintained and elevated?

Paekākāriki Housing Trust – Homegrown Housing Solutions

This case study was curated to spark thinking about local structures and approaches that can enable communities to improve their own wellbeing. It’s part of a wider Think Piece, Powering Up Communities to Deliver Local Wellbeing 2024, commissioned by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council

JOURNEY TO DATE

With a shared passion for retaining diversity and by looking at opportunities and challenges through a lens of social equity, the Paekākāriki Housing Trust (PHT) are active facilitators, strategists and advocates who work alongside their community to imagine and realise practical win-win solutions for those experiencing housing difficulties in Paekākāriki.

While Aotearoa is undeniably in the grips of a housing crisis and Paekākāriki village is by no means the most affected place in the country, locals felt moved to take on the responsibility of engaging with the housing issues members from their community were facing. Knowing they can’t fix the market forces that are driving the crisis, the village has a culture of connectedness and care and felt it could respond with innovation and community-led housing solutions. Through each project being taken on, PHT are learning how to better support their community and become better Treaty partners along the way.

PHT was sparked by a collective frustration felt when a valued local resident and teacher aide and her whānau were being forced to leave her rental property of 16 years, due to it being up for sale. The Trust set themselves up in 2016, at a time when there were only 49 untenanted rental properties advertised and available for a population of around 50,000 across the wider Kāpiti district.

To engage the community and gather a sense of local support for community-led housing solutions, a survey was circulated to local residents asking if anyone could contribute to the collective purchase of local houses or in other ways. Alongside this a Give a Little page was set up to start building up a community housing fund. The Trust managed to convince the owners of the house noted above to sell the house to the Trust at a reasonable price ($450,000). After commercial banks refused to lend to PHT, a new community housing provider, funding to complete the house purchase was enabled through contributions from 30 generous local investors who were offered a 4% interest rate over a 5 year period. This enabled time for the Trust to set itself up and has enabled the valued local family to buy back their house over a five-year period, at the same price. Local investors were also given the opportunity to donate their interest back to the Housing Trust – which some of them did.

Sam Buchanan, PHT co-ordinator speaks of the massive amount of goodwill in the village and how this harnessed the urgency to do something in response to a very local situation. He has seen many whānau leave the village because of housing related issues and got involved with PHT in response. He and others shared concerns that housing issues were threatening the whole personality of the village. He firmly believes that communities have far greater capacity to make change than they think they do.

Formed in 2016 by a small group of locals, PHT purchased their first house through 100% funding from their community and more recently has worked in a unique way to partner with local iwi Ngāti Toa Rangatira’s social housing arm to purchase a further property from Kāpiti Coast District Council. Through the Covid-19 lockdown, the Trust worked tirelessly as an emergency housing provider and as a payoff, now manage a small clutch of rental properties in the village. They continue to commission environmental work to understand the housing capacity of the whenua (land) and awa (river); explore housing funding models and design principles; and continue to build relationships with central and local government.

Success from the first two properties saw the pattern of wanting to achieve more for locals in housing spaces. The Trust now offers property management services for local landlords and see this as good business.

ORGANISATIONAL MODEL

The Trust meets regularly and also schedules hui with the community to keep bouncing new housing ideas, and to keep in contact with those interested in housing issues. PHT also recently hosted a community hui to look at options and proposals for denser housing to further determine what Paekākāriki might look like in the future.

A paid PHT co-ordinator works one day per week and an administrator around one day per month.

FUNDING AND SUPPORT

Funds from PHT’s tenancy management service are used to fund the Trust’s co-ordinator. However, funding often fluctuates, for example while earlier there were seven local rental properties being managed, now there are four. A large part of the role, says Helen Burch, PHT’s administrator and rental property manager, “is talking to landlords about what we do and showing them how the fees go back into the community.“ PHT is able to manage all the logistics of a rental property with the bonus of having locals at hand to address issues that arise, and ensure tenants are cared for in a more holistic way as part of the village.

With holiday homes now popular as Air BnB rental properties, the Trust also tries to encourage local people to rent their properties rather than having them vacant for long periods of time as holiday rentals. While the return is often lower, PHT can help both the landlord by having the property managed locally and funds generated can go back into the community. This also ensures locals have access to a home to live in.

PHT recognises the increased need for affordable housing, for example those who are downsizing and do not want to leave the village, those whose requirements have changed and now only need a small space, and others who want to be independent and do not require care but also don’t have a lot of money to rent houses. Demand has grown for 1-2 bedroom, self-contained flats which are not available in the village.

A resource kete has been developed for property owners to help navigate the challenges of adding secondary dwellings onto existing properties. The kete includes examples from residents who have been through the development process and includes their interactions with builders, architects and how to manage both building and consenting processes. This is another great example of Paekākāriki taking a local problem and finding local solutions, while also developing resources to assist others along the way.

Exploring different models for funding and financing and how to support locals who are thinking of adding a dwelling are new areas the Trust is looking into, all with the broader aim of supporting diverse housing situations and needs in Paekākāriki.

OPPORTUNITIES:

• There are so many ways to tell stories, using art and creativity to connect with people and provide multiple responses to similar situations to advance objectives and ensure everyone has a seat at the table.
• Paekākāriki Housing Trust recognises mana whenua’s unique connection to the land and there could be opportunities to assist in bringing mana whenua back to their land through the Trust’s aims. This is especially important to PHT and much work has been done to understand and support local mana whenua, Ngāti Haumia ki Paekākāriki , and their aspirations, such as the idea of building a Marae in Paekākāriki and bringing their whānau home to Paekākāriki to live.
• The biggest opportunity to collaborate and grow local housing solutions could be with Ngāti Toa Rangatira. PHT is looking for potential funders and investors to support this, keeping the conversation going and active.
• Different models for funding and financing, including seeing what else is available and happening across the motu and seeing how PHT can leverage this.

CHALLENGES:

• What the Trust really wants to do is to continue to purchase houses, but this has become harder and harder as house prices soar – median house prices in the village have doubled in recent years.
• Banks were very difficult to work with, with PHT having to jump through many hoops before desired loan finance outcomes were achieved. Residents had offered to put their own houses up for collateral to relieve financial pressure on PHT.
• The traditional housing purchase model focused on individuals raising deposits and taking out a mortgage does not allow for innovative community-led alternatives. Banks need to be challenged to play their part in addressing Aotearoa’s housing crisis by being open to alternative purchasing models and arrangements.

ADVICE FOR COUNCILS AND OTHERS LOOKING TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY STRUCTURES THAT SUPPORT DELIVERY OF LOCAL COMMUNITY OUTCOMES:

• Acknowledge the local intelligence that sits within communities and can get things done faster and more efficiently simply because vital relationships are already in place in small communities. Fostering local relationships and connections needs to be ongoing and is essential for community wellbeing and development, especially in times of emergency. Talk to local communities first and take note of local strengths.
• Community pride and sense of ownership is evident in the local facilities which are key gathering places and often the heart of the community. Community-led and managed facilities like the local community hall in Paekākāriki are often in a better state and better used than council managed ones.

McLaren Park Henderson South Community Trust – So Much More Than A Hub

This case study was curated to spark thinking about local structures and approaches that can enable communities to improve their own wellbeing. It’s part of a wider Think Piece, Powering Up Communities to Deliver Local Wellbeing 2024, commissioned by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

 JOURNEY TO DATE

MPHS is a responsive, community-led development organisation that over the last 20 years has gone from strength to strength, actively supporting the wellbeing needs of their local community through diverse initiatives, projects and programmes. While the focus of activities is their direct McLaren Park Henderson South community, in more recent times the organisation has expanded its community development and enterprise focus into wider western Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland.

Starting from humble beginnings with the initial coordinator working from a broom cupboard at Bruce McLaren Intermediate, MPHS has been a proudly community-led initiative. Initially sparked by growing concerns about young people in the area having nothing to do and getting into trouble, local community leaders and the then Waitakere City Council got together to develop a community response – new afterschool and holiday programmes. These first initiatives were hugely successful, which in turn got people asking, “what else could we be doing to support our young people and our wider community?”

Extensive community engagement and door knocking by local volunteers followed, tipping out both local issues and opportunities the community saw for their place. With a range of committed and ambitious community leaders, schools and local Council support in behind, a collaborative approach helped develop community aspirations. With Council having provision in its budget for a much-needed community facility in the area, the MPHS community-Council partnership that followed enabled co-development of not just a new community building but a permanent base for MPHS to both scale its activities and deliver them in a relational way that is reflective of, and responsive to, ever changing community needs.

With the community fund raising $1 million for a youth studio to complement Council’s $3m community centre – the Hub West campus, which opened in 2012, is a jointly owned facility that remains community-led and managed.

The MPHS journey over the last two decades has been a mix of planned and responsive action. A core of multiyear partnerships and contracts helped create some anchor activities that have in turn enabled a pipeline of intergenerational connection and local leadership development. Key MPHS anchor activities have included youth programmes (including high tech/creative classes, leadership camp, youth club etc), Project Twin Streams (community-based streamside restoration), HIPPY (a home-based programme to help parents get their 2-5-year-old child ready for success in education), Joy Club (activities for older adults), playgroups and exercise classes for new Mums.

For MPHS Chief Executive Kathryn Lawlor, key enablers of MPHS in its journey so far are:

• Being place based – it grounds the MPHS vision, mission and purpose.
• Local ownership and loyalty – built through 20 years of continually engaging, doing, supporting, and having a visible, hub space to operate out of.
• Strong, consistent governance – underpinned by a mix of long term/newer members with an intentional mix of required skillsets (e.g. HR, Strategy) and community knowledge and relationships within the Board team.
• Rangatahi focus – which continues to galvanise local energy and support.
• Trusted to deliver – MPHS has built a quality delivery reputation amongst funders, with belief in the community too that MPHS will do what it says it will, and in an authentic MPHS way.

ORGANISATIONAL MODEL

While the MPHS Community Trust has gone through a couple of iterations of name and objectives over the last 20 years, the organisational model underpinning it has remained largely unchanged. The Chief Executive currently has ten direct reports, with an inhouse financial manager also part of the team.

The last strategic refresh in 2017 confirmed the MPHS People-Pride-Place focus (caring for people and the environment) still made sense at community, MPHS team and board level, with strong support for what was happening in and for the wider Henderson south community.

The MPHS Board meets monthly to consider progress, challenges and new opportunities, with the Board Chair and Chief Executive generally connecting two to four times in between Board hui. Each year an annual report provides a snapshot of the year’s achievements, with different MPHS activities, team and board members also profiled to provide a fuller picture of what, how and who is involved in MPHS. The MPHS annual report is shared at a fun community celebration held in November each year at Hub West. This hui brings together MPHS supporters to share kai, celebrate successes and gather ideas for what next. Around 60-80 people generally attend this event – which also usefully doubles as an AGM.

In more recent times, it’s became financially clear that MPHS needs to keep growing if it wants to achieve its purpose. This prompted an exploration of income generation opportunities that could leverage existing MPHS capacity and expertise.

Having developed considerable environmental expertise through Project Twin Stream contracts, MPHS took up an opportunity to run the resource recovery centre (Tipping Point) at the Council owned Waitākere Transfer Station. This new seven day a week enterprise has also enabled wider social goals with 50-75% of staff local and/or had previously faced barriers to employment. 25% of annual Tipping Point profits are now being fed back into the MPHS Youth Studio, which has proven to be one of the hardest programmes to find ongoing operational funding to sustain.

Similarly, MPHS community development and capacity building expertise has been leveraged to provide community governance training and mentoring for community groups across West Auckland. A multiyear programme, funded through the Henderson Massey Local Board, has been designed by MPHS to also enable tailored follow-on support for community organisations wanting support to implement governance changes. Some of this support is provided by the MPHS team, other aspects by other external community governance specialists.

Expanding activities beyond MPHS borders has been done with great care. The MPHS team are clear they won’t compete with other good local organisations/services. They proactively meet with other organisations to talk about expansion plans and opportunities for possible collaboration ahead of decision making on potential new activities.

As new opportunities pop up through the year that aren’t in the MPHS Annual Plan, there’s collective discussion across staff and board teams to get agreement on which way to go. Some key questions that guide discussion and decision making include:

While new MPHS team member roles generally arise from new contracts/funding, MPHS has also created roles to do better for the community they serve. For example a new kaitakawaenga (cultural support) role came about after intentionally considering the high numbers of Māori and Pasifika people who call McLaren Park Henderson South home and how responsive MPHS was to their cultural needs.

The kaitakawaenga role also provides strategic support at management and board levels and has been hugely impactful for MPHS. Relationships and connections within and across the Māori community have strengthened and with MPHS cultural competence attested, new doors have opened up, with plans to create a similar role to support Pasifika communities and cultural competency.

In terms of iwi relationships, MPHS notes that positive relationships with local iwi Te Kawerau a Maki have strengthened now that the iwi has more staff capacity to engage and work with community partners.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

For MPHS community and engagement and input to planning happens iteratively through the year through programmes and informal pop ups like sausage sizzles and coffee carts taken to different neighbourhoods. The MPHS team has grown a team culture of learning, with team hui always asking:

• How is the community responding to what we’re doing?
• What are the emerging needs we’re seeing?
• What are the community asking us to do or wanting to do themselves?
• What are people talking about – what’s exciting or concerning them?
• What are we noticing about where people are at now?

Working relationally is important to MPHS, with extra effort in recent years to rebuild and strengthen local connections that had fallen away. Hub West also provides a critical space for relationship building, with Hub West Coordinator Agnes personally taking bookings and returning phone calls.

Post Covid, the MPHS team have also noticed a change in what local people need from their Hub too. With more people now sleeping in cars, there’s a need for somewhere to charge a phone, have some weetbix, a hot drink and a chat.

While collaboration is resource intensive, MPHS is at a scale now where they can participate in collective city-wide forums like West Auckland Together, unlike many other smaller local hubs who simply don’t have capacity to participate. There are many benefits from relationships and others knowing a lot about your mahi.

MPHS’s collaborative approach also extends to supporting other small local groups and initiatives in their rohe. Sometimes the request is to hold funds or provide back office support. At other times, it’s to assist people with ideas to move into a doing it phase. For MPHS the benefits of umbrellaing include new connections, relationships and supporting small scale local action. However, in reality the role generally involves much more than being a bank account and is time consuming.

FUNDING AND SUPPORT

MPHS continues to be funded through a mix of grants, contracts and enterprise income with the revenue splits for the 2022-year end noted in the adjoining table. With no cost of living increases in recent Council grants or contracts, funding has got tighter. MPHS notes however they are more fortunate than some NGOs in Tāmaki Makaurau who have had funding cuts. Much of this they attribute to a positive working relationship with their local Board and a strong track record of effective community-led delivery and support.

With increasing pressure to self-generate more funding and diversify income streams, MPHS notes the importance of being clear about just where additional income will be targeted.

In 2015, MPHS established social enterprise the Tipping Point, a community recycling centre.  For the 2021-22 year, 334 tonnes of waste (123 elephants!) were diverted from landfill, with the enterprise clearly supporting the organisation’s social and environmental goals.

CE Kathryn Lawlor is quick to point out that while financially beneficial, running large scale social enterprises puts an additional strain on the organisation’s management resource and requires the Board to be comfortable with taking greater financial risk. MPHS is clear on bottom lines however: the new Waiōrea Community Recycling Centre will need to be sustainable to support similar wider community outcomes like what is achieved at Tipping Point.

When it comes to reporting and accountabilities, MPHS acknowledges the importance of stories and gathering participant feedback, with value not just for funders but also for staff so they know how they and their work is valued. The MPHS team would also prefer to do more face to face reporting and/or have funders come and spend time in the hub and see their work in action.

With most funder-driven templated reporting providing limited value to MPHS, having the time and head space to do more solid thinking on what information MPHS would like to collect and report back on is something that remains on the MPHS wish list. As Kathyrn notes “it’s one of those important things we never have time or capacity to properly do.”

BARRIERS/ENABLERS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND GROWTH

ENABLERS:

• Investment in organisational development and capacity building, alongside programme delivery. It’s important that financial, governance and people systems are all strong too.
• Time/putea for relationships, connecting, collaborating, and gathering insights and intel across everything happening in the community.
• Regular hui and information sharing across key partners so relationships and trust is maintained.
• Having the right skillsets and capacities in place when taking on community engagement and facilitation roles. Working in and with your community to progress challenging local issues and solutions is nuanced work, not a technical exercise.

BARRIERS:

• People – collaboration is good in theory but it’s really people dependent. So much depends on individuals, their mindsets and who’s in what roles.
• Ongoing restructuring/people turn over in Councils. Having to continually restart relationships impacts on momentum and impact.
• Government departments generically cancelling programmes/contracts, even when effective locally-led services are in place e.g. When the Ministry of Education cancelled MPHS’s 10-year HIPPY contract in 2022 they were supporting 50 local families and had a waiting list. MPHS long term success was built from supporting whānau well, and going door to door to engage and enrol vulnerable families because they knew who they were.  

ADVICE FOR COUNCILS AND OTHERS LOOKING TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY STRUCTURES THAT SUPPORT DELIVERY OF LOCAL COMMUNITY OUTCOMES:

• Local community facilities are a key lever for local development, community connections and wellbeing collaboration. Community-led (as opposed to Council run) hubs are more vibrant, active and cost-effective spaces. When a local community has skin in the game, they care and co-invest and can be responsive to what’s needed, holding community-led values.
• While ownership should be in the community, Council needs to be connected and enabling things too. It’s about collaboration not devolution. There’s a huge opportunity to bring the technical skills/resources of Councils and others together with the community development/relational/social process skills of community anchor organisations. Most complex issues have both technical and community elements so you need to have both working together to make real progress.  
• Ensure capacity building support (e.g.professional and organisational development) is included above and beyond service delivery contracts, along with resource to enable ongoing community listening, engagement and relationship mahi.
• In health there are huge opportunities to partner with grass roots organisations and community hubs like MPHS who have local relationships and support bases to build new local wellbeing approaches. With the right support, community hubs could become new wellbeing hubs.
• Ensure local anchor organisations have really solid foundations in place before setting expectations that they grow to take on lots more. Provide HR support when and as they grow and assist them to build their communications and storytelling capacity so that everyone knows what’s happening – locally and externally too.

Focus Paihia – Championing Community-driven Action

This case study was curated to spark thinking about local structures and approaches that can enable communities to improve their own wellbeing. It’s part of a wider Think Piece, Powering Up Communities to Deliver Local Wellbeing 2024, commissioned by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

JOURNEY TO DATE

The start point for Focus Paihia was a realisation that it was time to stop waiting for someone else to fix the town’s problems and for the town to work together and ‘get their hands dirty’ and make positive change happen. In 2009, the community came together to shape a plan of action which included creating an aspirational vision for the Paihia village centre. In the 15 months that followed, this vision was turned into a Council-mandated village master plan that continues to guide activities today.

Place making (community inspired improvements to public places) has provided a key vehicle for the community driven urban design and action that has helped transform Paihia over the last decade. The very first project saw around 100 volunteers renovate an unattractive public space next to the local I-Site, supported by a $5,000 community board grant. The results were visible, generated a sense of local pride and helped foster next phase interest and momentum for further community -led action in the town. Over the last decade, Focus Paihia initiatives have included:

• Revitalising multiple public spaces, including the town’s waterfront area, local reserves, playgrounds, walkways and public toilets.  
• New water fountains, a swimming pontoon, and BBQs for community use.
• Painting murals to brighten the town that reflect the Paihia’s history, flora and fauna.
• Purchasing and installing CCTV cameras to address safety concerns in the village centre.
• Employing Town Custodians – who, as part of a contract with the Council, are paid to take care of regular tasks to keep the town looking beautiful such as emptying rubbish bins, cleaning toilets and sweeping footpaths.
• Establishing a Village Green market to make the town more vibrant, attract people to stop in the town, and provide an additional activity for cruise ship visitors over the September – May period.
• Creating a new mountain bike park at Waitangi.
• Hosting annual volunteer of the year awards to celebrate outstanding local leaders.
• Establishing annual arts, cultural and sports small grants to support other local organisations doing good in Paihia.
• Making a $150k donation to support Paihia 200 year heritage celebrations.
• Opening a volunteer-managed Op Shop to financially support Focus Paihia’s community change efforts.

In 2015, Focus Paihia’s efforts were nationally recognised when they were honoured as NZ Community of the Year. With continuity of strong local leadership and a business-like approach to its activities, Focus Paihia has continued to grow from strength to strength with a strong desire to keep doing things better and celebrate community project successes along the way.

Looking into the future, the mix of Focus Paihia activities is likely to stay the same, with more exploration of social support for the town on the horizon as noted above. There’s also a bubbling interest in environmental sustainability, including community gardens, and local food generation. There’s also recognition of the increasing importance of growing community connections through key national celebrations like Waitangi Day and Matariki.

ORGANISATIONAL MODEL

Rather than a ‘doer’ of projects, Focus Paihia is clear in its role as facilitator, supporter and (often) co funder of community projects. Focus Paihia projects are volunteer-led and driven by community champions, with local businesses, iwi, community groups (such as Rotary and Lions) and local residents collectively getting in behind to support with their time, equipment and resources. Community working bees are regularly called as needed to help build and/or spruce things up to keep the town looking good.

The Focus Paihia Trust Board that oversees Focus Paihia activities includes an intentional mix of local leadership from different parts of the community, with local Māori, business and young people formally represented on the Trust. In this way, Focus Paihia has been able to grow in ways that are cognisant of and connected to a wide range of aspirations, issues and opportunities seen for the town.

The Focus Paihia Trust board meets monthly, with the organisation’s sole paid position a 10 hour a week coordinator role, focused on supporting trustees and their meetings, responding to general enquiries, and supporting communications with the wider town via regular community e-newsletters, and updates to the Focus Paihia Facebook page and website.  

An annual community get together is a key mechanism through which the Focus Paihia team share back with the community what’s been achieved over the year, this process is a way to celebrate collective success and enable local accountability for outcomes. The event also includes space to talk about community needs and what else would make a positive difference for people and place. Moving from ideas to action is contingent upon people putting their hands up to own and champion causes they care about and are prepared to put time into. Focus Paihia’s role is to come alongside and support as needed. This might include approaching Council or other key stakeholders for support, making funding applications, providing resources, putting out the call for volunteers and/or other resources needed to help make things happen.  

Invitations for community ideas are also encouraged throughout the year via the Focus Paihia website, with Focus Paihia also hosting community discussions, surveys and workshops as needed. For example a broader community call for ideas came ahead of a two day community design workshop in early 2023 and helped bring locals together to think about what could be done to rejuvenate the southern entrance to town and the waterfront area. Around 35 locals attended the hui which was facilitated by Australian placemaking expert David Enwight, who has supported a number of successful community makeover projects in the town.

While Focus Paihia relies significantly on volunteer leadership and contribution, there are limits to a purely volunteer-led model.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Community engagement and collaboration lies at the heart of Focus Paihia, with the Trust Deed requiring “Focus Pahia to seek and recognise the views and expectations of both local residents and tangata whenua of the Paihia District” in their activities.

From the very early days, considerable effort has gone into building relationships with key stakeholders such as the Far North District Council (FNDC) and The NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi and local iwi upon whose land and jurisdiction Focus Paihia activities have been very closely connected.

While relationships with hapū and iwi are positive, both sides are committed to respectfully keep working through any issues as forward plans for the town are progressed.

Attention to relationships is important to current Focus Paihia Chair Peter Robinson who meets regularly with the Chairs of the Paihia Business Association and the Bay of Islands – Whangaroa Community Board. He notes the complementary roles each group plays in supporting the town’s development and the value in finding opportunities where the three organisations can work together, whilst also respecting each other’s differences.

FUNDING AND SUPPORT

Resourcing of Focus Paihia activities comes from a variety of sources – contracts, grants, donations, enterprise earnings and volunteer contributions of time/resources.

In 2022, Focus Paihia’s flagship op shop generated a $139k profit that was directed into community-led initiatives in the town. With the op shop entirely volunteer run, this income stream is a key component of Focus Paihia’s sustainable funding model. Being part of the op shop team also provides a valued way for passionate locals to connect and contribute to Focus Paihia efforts, with the dedicated team often working weekends to restock the shop and get ready for the following week’s trade. A TV screen with a rolling Focus Paihia slideshow is displayed at the op shop to help promote the group’s activities and let customers know what their shop purchases are supporting. A forward thinking, entrepreneurial approach also led to Focus Paihia purchasing the op shop building.

While huge community generosity and an enterprising approach have underpinned Focus Paihia’s model from the start, not everything is expected to generate a financial return. Activities such as the markets on the Village Green return relatively little to Focus Paihia, but provide other benefits such as vibrancy, bumping spaces for locals and visitors alike to meet and connect, as well as enabling business development opportunities for creative locals.

As noted earlier, Focus Paihia is also a mechanism through which Paihia passionate locals can direct donations and respond to community support requests. For example in 2019, a local resident donated $10k to support something that benefited local and visiting children. Focus Paihia facilitated discussions which resulted in the donation supporting completion of shade sails over the local primary school playground which is used by local and visiting children alike.

While Focus Paihia contracts with FNDC annually to support a range of activities such as the Town Custodians, there’s recognition that as time progresses, there may be less financial support at Council’s end due to growing fiscal constraints. FNDC however is keen to see how the Focus Paihia model could be activated more widely in their district and is looking to open up their procurement process next year to increase opportunities for new community-led suppliers to provide services in their part of the rohe.

BARRIERS/ENABLERS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND GROWTH

ENABLERS:

• Working in business like ways with a clear vision and purpose.
• Finding ways to welcome contributions from everyone – noting that while you need lots of people to champion things, whatever goes ahead has to be what the community wants and needs, not just an individual’s pet project.
• Great communication – with multiple channels to proactively share information so that people know what you’re about, what’s coming up, how to get involved, and what’s being achieved through community collaboration and contribution.
• Partnerships with Council and others so that community accessed grant funds and contributions can be matched with ratepayer funds to achieve so much more in the town.

BARRIERS:

• Volunteer time and capacity – impacts of cost of living increases are practically impacting on volunteer time/resource contributions in the town.
• Relationship turnover in key partner agencies such as the FNDC, which then requires time to rebuild trust and knowledge about the collaborative Paihia way of doing things.
• Someone proactively dedicated to fundraising is needed so that new potential sources of funding are known in advance of needing them.
• Contract limits – Focus Paihia would love to be doing maintenance of civic facilities they’re looking after, not just keeping things clean. But that also requires another layer of coordination and skillsets on hand to help fix things.

ADVICE FOR COUNCILS AND OTHERS LOOKING TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY STRUCTURES THAT SUPPORT DELIVERY OF LOCAL COMMUNITY OUTCOMES:

• When there’s a group of people who want to do things for their community, back and support them to get started. It’s good to start small, do things that are visible so everyone can see. Building confidence and local pride as you go means each small success can be leveraged for the next project.
• Pay attention to relationships and collaborate wherever you can – success is about interdependence not independence.
• Ensure the basics are done well – financial systems, transparency and communications so that accountabilities are clear and everyone can see where money is coming in/going out.
• Enabling flexible place-based funding in long term Council plans, with priorities for co-investment determined in conversations with communities in real time to tap into local energy and contribution.

Environment Network Manawatū – Collective Impact, Together

This case study was curated to spark thinking about local structures and approaches that can enable communities to improve their own wellbeing. It’s part of a wider Think Piece, Powering Up Communities to Deliver Local Wellbeing 2024, commissioned by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

JOURNEY TO DATE

From small beginnings and the passion and drive of a select group of founders, ENM has evolved today into an environmental organisation that is unique for being led by the voices and shared input of its 65+member groups. A wide range of projects are undertaken by ENM member groups each year with ENM’s key purpose focused on facilitating and enabling communication, co-operation and increasing collective action amongst its member groups and the wider community. Leadership is provided by underpinning, fostering, and encouraging environmental initiatives in the region. ENM member groups work across the Manawatū River catchment area and cover a wide range of interests that include:

• Freshwater quality
• Regeneration and biodiversity
• Food security and resilience
• Alternative energies
• Sustainable living
• Active transport

The network is organised into two collectives: Manawatū Food Action Network and Manawatū River Source to Sea, with both strands caring for and supporting environmental activities and connecting people.

ENM has been strategic in their approach – enabling a collective voice right from the start at a time when smaller groups did not have agency. Coming together to make a collective statement has given the environment a much stronger voice in the Manawatū. Their calculated collective approach has involved finding ways to make collaboration work for everyone.

In 2015 workshops were held to consider what was needed to set up a 10-year plan for ENM. Through this process, a decision was made to align ENM goals to Palmerston North City Council’s environmental goals, with the ENM plan articulating what ENM was going to do to make the City’s goals happen. ENM’s strategic plan is reviewed every 2 to 3 years by ENM governance with membership consultation and continues to provide a great platform for maximising potential collaboration.

ORGANISATIONAL MODEL

Governed by its member groups, a management committee of up to 9 people from across the ENM membership is elected at the AGM each year. There is also room to co-opt to fill vacancies if required. ENM are active members of Environment Hubs Aotearoa who provide backbone support and connection to other environmental hubs nationwide.

With a strong sense of responsibility to the region, ENM relies on numerous volunteer hours, communicating an extensive list of opportunities volunteers can contribute to. Volunteers also support ENM via their participation on governance (management committee), some project delivery around public events, and advocacy. The contribution from the volunteers allows the organisation to be more flexible and responsive to the community, with over 2,700 volunteer hours clocked for the 2023 financial year.

Some diverse collaborative projects within the current ENM umbrella include:

• Ruahine Kiwi – partnering with Te Kāuru Eastern Manawatū River Hapū Collective (Te Kāuru) with the vision of returning North Island eastern brown kiwi to the southern Ruahine by 2026.
• Plastic Pollution Challenge – a collaborative initiative with Massey University’s Zero Waste Academy, Rangitāne o Manawatū, Te Kāuru in Dannevirke and RECAP in Ashhurst to deliver a range of initiatives to clean up local waterways.
• Manawatū Food Action Network – a collective of nearly 40 organisations and initiatives collaborating on food security, resilience, and localisation. Two key initiatives focus on the mitigation of food insecurity in the Palmerston North 4412 postcode area and supporting backyard gardens.
• Creative, tailored delivery of The Future Living Skills Programme, a nationwide, local government supported and funded programme encouraging lifestyles that generate less carbon to the air, less waste to landfills and less pollution to rivers.
• Palmerston North Repair Café, spearheaded and supported through ENM as well as helping to develop a repair cafe in Fielding.

ENM Coordinator Madz BatachEl describes their direction as “intentional and strategic as well as flying by the seat of our pants.”

With the ENM staff team experiencing ongoing high demand for connection and support, the stretched team is having to make some tough choices on where to prioritise their time across so many very worthy projects. Feeling pushed and pulled and wanting to deliver at the highest possible level, the team is mindful of looking after themselves and their colleagues’ mental wellbeing.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

ENM work hard investing in key relationships across the network and with a broad range of environment partners and stakeholders. Their highly skilled team know and understand the regional eco system in which people are central to making change. ENM are not necessarily there to deliver special projects or to develop projects but to understand who is doing what and then co-ordinate across the range of activities happening. Describing themselves as holding the space and doing the boring bits so others can reach their dream, “it is important to keep doing that, so they don’t have to.”

ENM are able to provide guidance on strategic approaches to environmental issues and action. Rather than leaping in and finding solutions they pause and constantly consider “what is our real role here?” Madz reflects that “in some ways we are leading and other times, we are participating, but we are always building community and connecting.” She notes that attracting resources to do this essential back room coordinating and gluing work is challenging.

Reporting is largely driven by data, and Madz stresses it is important to tell stories and to inspire as it’s the impact of their work that matters most. Often after workshops, events, trainings, engagements, hui (gatherings) or simple small interactions it is hard to know or see what the immediate impacts are. She notes that outputs focused data does not capture the other flow-on changes that may have occurred such as behaviour change, environmental change and the increase in knowledge and skills, which often has long lasting impacts across neighbourhoods, whānau and friends.

Some of ENM’s own learnings have been to frame and negotiate contracts where they can be non-specific about what they’ll count and build in ways to explore what really matters through impact stories, as projects progress. They are finding that combining data and stories helps paint a broader view.

With a strong track record of working with integrity toward great results which itself helps attract resources, there’s a high level of trust and belief in what ENM does and can do. This leads to lots of approaches for ENM involvement. Rather than simply say “yes we will do that” – the team now pauses to consider things asking:

• Do we have the capacity?
• What are we best to do here?
• Do we co-ordinate, lead, or bring in others?
• Who is missing from this conversation and how can we extend this project by collaborating with others?

At the heart of these decisions is making sure the intent and outcome is solid and viable. For example, an opportunity arose to manage one new garden but having the networks and shared resources to coordinate many more gardens in the area, ENM extended the project which has led to far greater impact. Over 100 backyard gardens have been installed since 2020, supported through volunteer time, resources and donations. This process has enabled much more as a result, with more open doors for the community to connect and learn about gardening. Initial success also led on to finding a project sponsor, and resourcing a local food growing champion, Beth Lew, whose tender approach inspires and empowers whānau. ENM are now able to employ someone for one day per week, build on existing previous strategies around food resilience, and accelerate them with other organisations who are bringing community voices to the food insecurity conversation.

ENM recognises that informal groups have great ideas and want to respond to a local need but they don’t want the paperwork or meetings that goes with it. Being the underpinning support for groups is a key role that ENM plays, happily shouldering the backroom infrastructure so good work can get done.

FUNDING AND SUPPORT

Funding is received from a range of grants and some donations. Key projects funding e.g. support for Ruahine Kiwi, has come through Department of Conservation’s (DOC) Jobs for Nature programme. Other key kai resilience related programmes have been supported by Lottery Community funds. Core operational funding comes via PNCC’s Sector Lead Partnership funding, Horizons Regional Council’s Climate response fund, and a partnership with Kāinga Ora, with Environment Hubs Aotearoa resourcing ENM’s capacity building activities. A range of smaller grants cover other operational and project expenses.

ENM also acts a fundholder and backbone for some of its 65+ member groups, enabling them to get on with doing and delivery. For example ENM take donations on behalf of one group (Whiowhio hut), sell jam for Timona Park Orchard Trust, sell books/calendars for Ruahine Whio Protectors and Awahuri Kitchener Park Trust, and umbrella the work of Growing Gardens and Communities by securing funding and employing a casual staff member to provide physical labour.  

While constantly being drawn into the quest for funding, ENM acknowledge that they are well supported by PNCC. Twenty plus years of respected work means that ENM are now recognised as PNCC’s sector lead partner for the environment, and there is an expectation to deliver on that partnership. Part of the partnership involves providing Environmental Initiatives Grants to the community. For the last three years, an ENM Environmental Initiatives Fund Sub-Committee has made decisions on both small (up to $1k) and large (up to $12k) grants to support projects that deliver on PNCC’s and ENM’s environmental outcomes. In 2023, $49k was allocated from the large grants to support the mahi of seven different organisations. Small grants are able to be distributed to individuals or informal groups as ENM hold the funds and can reimburse actual project expenses or pay invoices directly if the individual is not able to do so upfront.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES TO SUSTAINABILITY AND GROWTH AT ENM

Given difficulties in knowing what is going to happen during the year that might require pivoting or more funding, ENM would like to see more flexibility in contracts to allow them to do the work but be more able to renegotiate outputs and outcomes as required. Inclusion of support for ENM organisational capacity building would also be timely – with a need their end to develop more skills in business/commercial delivery models so that the organisation can more fully understand the value of their work and the time good work takes, so that this can be better built into contracts.

Like other community groups, Madz says ENM may not believe in themselves enough and while staff come into the organisation with passion and a reason for being here, being a small team without access to a HR manager, recruitment consultants, and adequate capacity for communications support puts constraints on people’s time and stretches them across multiple roles. Solutions to these issues that EMN and others face could be secondments from Councils, or access to groups who offer specific project support pro bono. People resources are highly valued and supporting the contributions they are able to make is vitally important.

CHALLENGES:

• Uncertainty and instability brought about by DOC’s Jobs for Nature funding cuts, including little discussion with DOC around what this means for the 1800 new traps ENM and its hapū collective partners have put on the ground in the Ruahine Ranges. While Jobs for Nature funding has practically enabled new local skills and jobs and built on the ground knowledge and community connections, there is a real fear these assets could just disappear, which means considerable investments of time, energy and infrastructure might effectively be wasted.
• High volume of ongoing requests for knowledge and support. Currently ENM don’t have the resources available to respond to every request.
• With demand and need for ENM services are growing, ENM are mindful of the balancing act required and not taking on too much. The priority is ensuring staff are looking after themselves and not reaching breaking point.
• Social enterprises are often seen as the answer to funding sustainability. There are some good models such as Beautification Trust in South Auckland, however dedicated, funded time and resources are required to properly explore and test the benefits and viability of a social enterprise model.

OPPORTUNITIES:

• Future development – opportunities are coming faster from great relationships that have been built and nurtured. Environment Hubs Aotearoa is working hard to see how ENM can upskill, move beyond project to project and enable greater funding stability to sustain and grow their staff team.
• Recognising and valuing the need for upskilling in community consultancy mechanisms for future contracting with councils and others.

ADVICE FOR COUNCILS AND OTHERS LOOKING TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY STRUCTURES THAT SUPPORT DELIVERY OF LOCAL COMMUNITY OUTCOMES:

• Hubs around the country could recover food waste for councils through local community collection or drop off points for food scraps. At present, most council defaults are to generic household commercial collection models. Community-based solutions and models would provide additional opportunities for community members to bump into each other, and learn more about composting, gardening and more sustainable living.
• Communities provide a wealth of knowledge, local expertise, local relationships, and access to diverse views – tapping into this should be paid for, not expected for free.
• Communities trust community organisations and don’t always engage with councils. When they have had positive interactions with local community organisations, they open up to them in different, honest and raw ways. Often, community organisations are the conduit that can advocate, advise, and give a voice for others.  Again, value the expertise brought to the table by paying community organisations in the same way you would pay other professional contractors for a specialised skill set.

Collective Impact for Child Wellbeing

Child poverty comes from many sources, with one of the biggest being debt from loans with high interest rates.

These loan interest rates have a disproportionate impact on the wellbeing of children and families. The recent law changes to put a cap on interest rates were not an overnight certainty but instead, the result of a long campaign led by FINCAP* in partnership with its 200 local free financial capability and budgeting services in New Zealand and the communities they support.

FINCAP used the Child Rich Community principles of collaboration, empowerment and relationship-focus to develop their submission on the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill and highlight the key policy issues for communities to also speak out on. They had three rounds of engagement with the 200 services in their network during 2018-19 which resulted in 110 organisations contributing submissions through that process. They also held 11 hui nationwide in early 2019 to inform local communities about the Bill, to prioritise key issues to campaign on for change, and to encourage budget service users to share their stories through the Select Committee submission process. Sarah Newham’s story is outlined below.

The Government made changes to the Credit Contracts Legislation Amendment Bill as a direct result of strong submissions at Select Committee stage and introduced a cap of 0.8% interest per day (still 24% in interest over a 30-day month). This sits alongside a new overall limit on the total cost of credit for high-cost loans, which means the interest charged can’t be more than twice the amount initially borrowed. This would mean if someone borrows $500 they won’t have to pay back any more than $1,000 over the lifetime of the loan.

Sarah’s story is below:

2018 was the first time I ever took a payday loan. I’m a solo mum, my kids have their birthdays really close together and the budget was tight. I’d tried to save for it but there’d been some unexpected costs. I didn’t want to let them down, so I borrowed $400. It was easy. I went online and had approval in a matter of minutes. I’d have to pay back nearly twice that but that was going to be OK once things picked up. I made the first couple of payments, they were big – nearly a quarter of my weekly income but then I missed one.

The penalties were bad but the rate they wanted repayment made at was worse – it was huge because the interest rate was huge. There were weeks where I was choosing between paying for electricity and paying for food. Meeting the loan repayments was the most important thing because having a bad debt against my record would have cost so much more in the long run.

In the end it got to the point where I was begging the lender to send the debt to a debt collector. The extra 20 or 30 percent added was worth it just to be able to pay it off over a longer period of time. They refused.

It only turned around when I finally got the local budgeting service involved and they made the lender send the debt to a collector. I’m almost debt free now, but it’s come at a real cost to me and my kids.

This year, on my birthday the loan shark I borrowed from sent me an email that said something like “Happy Birthday Sarah – how about you treat yourself with a loan”? I felt ill. I’ve looked at the changes this law will make, and I’ve put them up against my experience. They would have helped a bit, but they wouldn’t have made the total cost of the loan less than it was to start with. The payments I had to make wouldn’t have been any smaller. Maybe some of the penalties would have been smaller but I only just missed that third payment. If things had been a little different I could have paid it all back on time. Maybe at the cost of my kids’ breakfasts and a couple of disconnection threats. Lots of people do.

If I had, I don’t know if I would have said no when they offered me a new loan, or another after that. There’s always a bill that needs to be paid, especially when you’ve been tightening the belt to pay the last loan. What I do know is my family would be a lot worse off for it.

I also know that a lot of other people are hurt by this kind of lending too. That’s why I’m speaking out. It’s not easy to tell my story so publicly. Being “bad with money” is seen as a shameful thing in New Zealand, but it’s not as shameful as the way people like me are being preyed on by this industry. Please, make sure that this law change stops that.”

FINCAP emphasised that this experience has highlighted the power of authentic story-telling from members of the community through the law reform process. FINCAP CEO, Tim Barnett, advised that “these stories can move hearts and mountains, especially in politicians’ offices and select committee rooms.”

*FinCap (the National Building Financial Capability Charitable Trust) supports 200 services around New Zealand that provide financial mentoring support to people. These services see 70,000 people a year between them. Most people that visit these services have a number of expensive and unaffordable loans ranging from bank loans, personal loans, credit cards, car loans and high cost short term loans. The average debt is $10,000.

Mataura: a community transformed

Jo Brand, former Community Development Worker, says Mataura was “limping along and disconnected”. This was partly due to the shut-down of various industries over the years, resulting in people moving away to find work and to access a better range of facilities. A lot of property was owned by absentee owners and wasn’t looked after well. Jo adds says that “all the numbers were terrible”, according to a 2008 study done by Public Health South (Southern District Health Board). Mataura also had the lowest decile school in Southland, only one out of five kids were school ready at age 5 and the crime statistics were less than ideal.

Shared local visions drive action and change

Government agencies were concerned about Mataura and were going to meet to decide what to do, but then they realised that the locals were already creating a way forward. The town had already formed a taskforce and started working with Inspiring Communities.

Alan Taylor, Chair of the Community Board, stresses that “there is always a need for a common vision”. So, the process started with a community consultation workshop. Everyone got together to talk about what they wanted in Mataura. “We started with celebrating and identifying who Mataura is first. That we’re not buying into what everyone else was telling us we were or weren’t” says Jo.

The residents created lists of what they wanted to see in the town and 70% of the projects on those lists have now been completed, even ones Jo never thought would succeed. Having more than one cafe in a town of 1,500 people didn’t seem realistic, but they now have two independent cafes as well as a Four Square and a fish and chip shop.

Using existing strengths and assets

Jo believes “the skillset was always there from the people. It just needed encouragement”. Many of the town’s projects have been ones of restoration. The Mataura Museum was a struggling entity until a group of volunteers worked with Gore District Council to restore the building. They made it interactive and modern, relevant and local. On opening, in 2015, it won Best Museum Project Award at the NZ Museum Awards and one of the volunteers travelled to a Heritage conference in Croatia to speak about the project.

The old town hall was restored and there is also a newer community centre, which is a real focal point for the community.

Eleanor Ranstead, the current Community Development Coordinator, has witnessed the extraordinary transformation of the town in her 20 or so years in the area: “It has a lot of hope”. She says the focus is now on building the capacity of community groups and people. The list of programmes, activities and resources the town now offers is extensive: a Mens’ Shed, Strengthening Families, community lunches, Toddler Time, the Bunker Youth Centre, Mind Matters, an Al-Anon group and a suicide prevention group, activities at four different churches and so much more.

“What’s really emerged is not so much leaders. It’s that people have embraced other people’s strengths. People recognise and understand that you don’t have to be the expert at everything. But everybody has an expertise in something. That’s what we do differently now” says Jo.

Many people, groups and sectors working together

Mataura was awarded a Community Development Scheme grant by the Department of Internal Affairs. The community has also worked with Inspiring Communities on a regular basis and has brought Jim Diers to town to do workshops on several occasions. Gore District Council has been another important partner in the town’s development.

Working collaboratively is something that the town’s people have got better at over time. “Now we say ‘Here’s what we want to do. Who do we need to help us get that?’” says Jo. “To encourage involvement from the community is huge. And working with local government is important” adds Alan.

Working adaptively, learning informs planning and action

There has been a lot of learning along the way. “It was a journey of understanding what people needed” Jo says. “The community gardens didn’t work at first. They realised they had to charge money because no-one would come if it was free”.

Barbara Cunningham is responsible for the community gardens. The project expanded further when she realised that the Meals on Wheels programme was using frozen meals from Gore. She took over the contract and started delivering fresh food, using produce from the garden. The service now runs five days a week.

Other projects include demolishing derelict buildings and putting in parks and recreation areas, building a sensory garden and an outdoor gym circuit and creating a new childcare centre which fits the needs of the local parents, many of whom do shift work. The primary school roll is up by about 30 and they’ve just established a bilingual class.

Mataura Marae sat incomplete for about 30 years, after a number of setbacks prevented renovations taking place. Work finally restarted in 2017. The wharenui is now finished and the plan is to have gardens and possibly a café, with wheelchair accessibility and a family friendly atmosphere.

These projects are not only important to Mataura. Gore District Council wants to retain Mataura as a destination point, so Southlanders (and others) stop and visit.

The population is on the rise and house prices are increasing, but are still affordable, which makes it a very attractive location. And business is booming! Eleanor estimates that there are now 80 – 100 businesses operating in the town. The townspeople think local before buying further afield and some businesses that might have closed down have been bought and run by other locals.

Jo captures Mataura’s community spirit well when she says “I remember my Great Grandmother telling us ‘just do what you can to help others: it doesn’t matter if it seems small to you’. I think that sort of sums up why Mataura is what it is”.

Ōpōtiki on TV

Ōpōtiki is sure doing things the community-led way. The long journey continues. It’s great to watch them acknowledge and celebrate their amazing achievements to date. It’s been a privilege for Inspiring Communities to walk alongside and support Ōpōtiki’s kaupapa and mahi for many years.
Watch Seven Sharp’s story about their Mussel Farm

Read how Ōpōtiki  has integrated iwi and community-led development approaches to empower their community’s transformation.

Ōpōtiki using their taonga to harbour a dream

Decades ago, some Whakatōhea kaumatua advocated farming the sea, and rebuilding  the marine based economy which the Iwi had been renowned for pre-confiscation.  At the time there was scepticism –  maybe the vision seemed impossible….

Ōpōtiki now has the largest offshore marine farm in New Zealand and local iwi, Te Whakatōhea is the majority shareholder. Over the past 20 years Te Whakatōhea and partners have  co invested in research and farming infrastructure to harvest spat and grow mussels. Both are now being produced at extraordinary rates.

It’s now time to fulfil the plans to develop the Ōpōtiki Harbour so that both the farm can be serviced and the mussels processed locally – generating local jobs and wealth. Regional commitment to investment is lined up, awaiting government commitment so that construction can commence.

Ōpōtiki, an eastern Bay of Plenty sea side town resident to nearly 5 thousand, was once considered one of New Zealand’s most deprived communities. The town has had heavy unemployment, decreases in population, and a large dependence on government benefits. Increasingly both locals and outsiders are perceiving it differently. They’re beginning to believe that benefits plus seasonal work in kiwifruit need no longer be the only option for a significant portion of the population.

Through their joint leadership, Te Whakatōhea and the Ōpōtiki District Council have integrated iwi and community-led development approaches to empower their community’s transformation.

Shared local visions drive action and change

Ōpōtiki had a desire for change, they envisioned a community that could be more sustainable: Iwi saw opportunity for economic growth congruent with their values and aspirations, that would lead to job opportunities for their people; the Council saw potential in a sustainable seafood industry, along with other industries enabled by a viable harbour, which  would all support the community’s wider vision for change.

Using existing strengths and assets

UTe Whakatōhea has  a strong connection to the sea. Traditionally known as enterprising seafarers and coastal traders, their history is closely linked to the ocean. The community saw their vision as an asset, one of great value in rebuilding a vibrant local economy and wellbeing. Layered over this was Ōpōtiki harbour. It had been developed in European settlement times for whaling and coastal trading, and was once a busy, thriving harbour – a connection to both European and Māori heritage.

Many people, groups and sectors working together

MTe Whakatōhea, settled on their vision to develop the marine farm,  reached out to multiple groups and organisations to assist.  Ōpōtiki District Council, with community support got behind the initiative, taking leadership to develop the Harbour.  Getting the marine farm underway and confirming the viability of the harbour development has been complex.  Processes with community, iwi, multiple central and local government layers, scientist, researchers, investors and a wide range of businesses. There’s been effort regionally, nationally and internationally  over many years and that’s created more relationships and trading opportunities both here and overseas.

The Ōpōtiki Marine Advisory Group, established nearly a decade ago, has been a constant thread at the local level, bringing Council, Te Whakatōhea, marine farm leadership and other business people, to the table, along with funders, the regional council and economic development agency.

Working adaptively, learning informs planning and action 

WOver the decades of persistence, patches of progress have been frequently interrupted by knock- backs and road- blocks. Two things stand out. One is a collective determination to keep going, learning from experience and adapting to new circumstances and ideas. The other is the value of diverse skills, knowledge and leadership skills around the tables driving these projects, which means different people and organisations can step up when leadership is needed, and then step back as new challenges and opportunities emerge, demanding other expertise.

Watch Ōpōtiki Mussell Farm on Seven Sharp.